On November 24, The Globe and Mail published an article on an agreement that would see kidnapped Israeli hostages taken by Hamas terrorists on October 7th, released in exchange for convicted Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli jails and other individuals detained for their involvement in violence against Israelis.
In covering this development, the Globe published an Associated Press article to its website headlined: “Palestinian families rejoice over the release of minors and women in wartime prisoner swap.”
A prisoner swap! Israeli hostages that were released were all children, women and the elderly who were kidnapped into Gaza and were held in horrible conditions underground and contrary to the Geneva Conventions by Hamas. In sharp contrast, Palestinian prisoners were convicted for their roles in committing terror attacks or detained for their role in carrying out violence. All Palestinian prisoners and detainees were held in optimal conditions and had their human rights upheld.
This headline was extremely problematic as it morally equated innocent Israeli victims kidnapped by Hamas, to Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli jails and detention facilities.
It’s simply false to characterize Israeli hostages as prisoners and it deserved to be corrected by the Globe.
A prisoner is often defined as: “a person legally held in prison as a punishment for crimes they have committed or while awaiting trial.”
After alerting the Globe and Mail, and telling senior editors that the term “prisoner swap” is not an appropriate description of the exchange – as there can be zero moral equivocation – the Globe amended its headline which now states “Palestinians rejoice over release of detainees as part of agreement to free Israeli hostages.”
We thank The Globe and Mail for its corrective action and for giving a more accurate description of this development.
